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Dunman High School
Dunman High School (DHS) (formerly known as Dunman Government Chinese Middle School) is an autonomous co-educational secondary school in Singapore offering the Integrated Programme. It has always been the top co-educational secondary school in Singapore in terms of academic results. In 2009 the school moved back to the Kallang campus, which has been expanded to seven hectares, making it one of the largest government schools in Singapore in physical area. Its Chinese name Démíng (德明) is a transliteration of "Dunman". The meaning of its name in Chinese is derived from a line in the Book of Rites (大学之道，在明明德) which is a statement that has influenced the Emperors of the Han, Tang and Song dynasties in Imperial China. It can be roughly translated as "the Dao (path) to the greatest learning lies in understanding the brightest virtues". History Establishment On 14 October 1956, in the midst of the Chinese middle schools riots, the Ministry of Education established the predecessor of Dunman High School, Kallang West Government Chinese Middle School, along with other schools like River Valley High School. In the 1956 riots, Chinese middle-school students who subscribed to the communist ideology staged sit-ins and demonstrations, disrupted classes, and in effect shut their schools down. The function of the newly established Kallang West Government Chinese Middle School was to allow students who had no wish to be embroiled in communism to have a place to study. The premises of a newly built primary school at Mountbatten Road were loaned, and the initial enrolment included about 100 boys from The Chinese High School, with 10 teachers. In December 1957 the school moved to Dunman Road and was renamed Dunman Government Chinese Middle School. Special Assistance Plan In 1979, the school was selected to be one of the nine Special Assistance Plan (SAP) secondary schools. The school was renamed "Dunman High School" and began to offer both English and Chinese languages at the first-language level. When the Music Elective Programme (MEP) was introduced by the MOE in 1982, DHS was selected to implement the programme for musically gifted students. In 1990, the school expanded its physical area by taking over the neighbouring former premises of Dunman Secondary School at Dunman Road. It then became a single-session school (previously the school was divided into the "morning session" and "afternoon session" so that two classes of students could share a classroom). It was one of six schools to go autonomous in 1994. The school moved to its current location in Tanjong Rhu on 27 May 1995. It was made the 7th Gifted Education Programme centre in Singapore in 1997. Dunman High Programme From 2005 the school has implemented a customised version of the Integrated Programme called the Dunman High Programme (DHP), which allows all students to bypass the 'O' Level examinations and directly take the A-Level examinations. 50th anniversary A time capsule was launched on the opening ceremony of DHS's 50th anniversary celebrations on 31 March 2006. The time capsule will be opened in 2031 on Dunman High's 75th anniversary. Items such as the DHS uniform and the 2006 student handbook were placed in it. A letter by the current Principal of the school was also included. In addition, a Heritage Run was organised that day. There were also performances, including a dance by the school's Chinese Society, and a drumming performance by the percussionists from Chinese Orchestra and Symphonic Band. A 50th anniversary song, written by Kelvin Ang Chin Yuan, was played by Clara Ng Yi Wen and sung by the school. PRIME Dunman High School embarked on a 6-year Integrated Programme called the Dunman High Programme. To meet the needs of the Integrated Programme, the school moved to a holding school in the former Raffles Junior College at Mount Sinai in December 2006 to allow for upgrading of the current site at Tanjong Rhu. The land area of the expanded campus increased from four hectares to seven hectares, making Dunman High School one of the biggest government schools in Singapore. Completion In December 2008 the classrooms, general office and staff rooms of the Tanjong Rhu Campus were completed, and the school moved back to the Tanjong Rhu campus. On 2 January 2009 the school opened to a new year with an opening ceremony named "Homecoming" （回家） to welcome students and staff to the upgraded campus. At the same time, Dunman High School is opened 24 hours and had been affiliated to the MTR in Hong Kong. Principals Since its establishment in 1956, Dunman High School has had eight principals: School song School crest The school crest of DHS was designed by the late Chen Jen Hao, its second principal, and Liu Kang, a pioneer in local fine art and former art teacher of the school. The two Chinese characters read, from right to left, Dé míng, the Chinese name of the school. The characters are written in seal script. The red colour symbolises passion and the drive for success. The blue colour signifies peace and dignity, while the circular border represents wholeness and unity, as well as the pursuit of universality, as defined in the Confucian classic Book of Rites. Relations with other schools Dunman High School is not officially affiliated with any school. Co-curricular activities DHS offers co-curricular activities (CCAs), including competitive sports, uniformed groups, musical groups and clubs and societies. The school's traditional forte has been Chinese orchestral music. Those CCAs are: *Art Club *Badminton *Basketball *Bowling *Chinese Orchestra *Choir *Guzheng Ensemble *Infocomm Club *NCC *NPCC *Robotics Club *Shooting *SJAB *String Ensemble *Table Tennis *Volleyball Alumni External links *Official website *MOE School Information Service: Dunman High School *Dunman High Water Education Programme website Category:Autonomous schools in Singapore Category:Educational institutions established in 1956 Category:Secondary schools in Singapore Category:Schools offering Integrated Programme in Singapore Category:Boarding schools in Singapore Category:Kallang Category:Junior colleges in Singapore